Morbid obesity is a serious medical condition. Complications associated with morbid obesity include hypertension, diabetes, coronary artery disease, stroke, congestive heart failure, multiple orthopedic problems, and pulmonary insufficiency with markedly decreased life expectancy. With this in mind, the monetary and physical costs associated with morbid obesity are substantial. In fact, it is estimated the costs relating to obesity are in excess of 100 billion dollars in the United States alone.
A variety of surgical procedures have been developed to treat obesity. The most common currently performed procedure is Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. This procedure is highly complex and is commonly utilized to treat people exhibiting morbid obesity. Other forms of bariatric surgery include Fobi pouch, biliopancreatic diversion, and gastroplastic or “stomach stapling”. In addition, implantable devices are known that limit the passage of food through the stomach and affect satiety.
Despite the many advantages associated with these procedures, drawbacks still remain. For example, it has been found that the gastric pouch created by such procedures can dilate over time and thereby lead to weight regain. In such patients, a “banded bypass” operation is performed in which surgeons create and then apply a silastic band about the gastric pouch in an effort to prevent or mitigate pouch dilation. This process is cumbersome, however, as surgeons must create the bands in the operating room, which can take up to 30 minutes or more. Additionally, such bands, once implanted, require additional invasive surgery in the event of failure.